


Far Worse Things

by dynamix



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Andrew sucks, The red rocks, Whump, Whumptober 2020, caged, varian has Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:02:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26824837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dynamix/pseuds/dynamix
Summary: Written for Whumptober day four: Running out of time.What if Cassandra had used the red rocks when she caged Varian? Well.Unbeta’d because I’m a fool, let’s be real here.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 117
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Far Worse Things

“Oh, Varian.” Cassandra’s voice was sickly sweet as she bent down over the boy, one hand on her hip, the other on her sword. Varian stared back at her, trembling as he reached out for her with a gloved hand.

“It’s a shame that you’re making me do this,” Cass said, and the black rocks began rising out of the ground, one after another, surrounding Varian as he stumbled back. 

“Cass!” He cried out, looking around wildly for an escape option. “It doesn’t have to be this way! Please!”

“Oh, but it does.” Cass raised a hand and clenched her fist, and the rocks began to close in, shrinking down around the figure of the small boy. “This is the only way to get what I want.”

The rocks began to form a cage around him, and Varian shrunk back, the tiny space constricting his movements. “Please,” he begged again, trying to reach through the cold stone bars to Cass. “Please, Cassandra. We can fix this, I promise.”

“You of all people should know how little a promise can mean,” Cass replied bitterly. “You’ll stay in that cage until this is done. And just in case you think of escaping-“ She smiled, and the rocks began to shift, slowly moving backwards and rapidly gaining speed, until the small cage was dangling at the edge of the tower. Cassandra clenched her fist, and the cage rocketed back, propelled by a sharp, extended point of rock until it hung in the air, hundreds of feet above the ground. 

Varian’s head slammed back against the bars with the rapid motion, and he groaned, rubbing the back of his head. “Cassandra!” He called out once more, but if she could hear him, he couldn’t tell. He was far enough out that he could barely see her figure as it walked away.

Varian took a deep breath. His heart was pounding in his chest. With a shaky hand, he brushed his hair out of his face. “Ok,” he said, vocalizing his thoughts as he so often did when he was nervous. “Think, Varian. Think. You’re in an unbreakable cage dangling off the side of a tower a billion feet up. What do you do?”

His hands gripped his hair, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he pulled, trying to think. What could he do? What could he possibly do?

Something began to hum, and timidly, Varian pried an eye open.

The rocks had begun to glow. Their dark black color was slowly turning brighter, a bright red creeping through them like a growing vine. 

“No, no, no,” Varian mumbled, trying to push himself back and away from the growing crimson. “Not you again, not-“

“Varian!” A voice called out, and a lump started to rise in his throat. This couldn’t be happening again.

“You’re not real,” he said, covering his eyes. “You’re not real. This isn’t real.”

“Varian! Help me!” The voice called out again, and Varian couldn’t help it. “Dad!” He cried out, clinging to the edge of the cage and looking down below. 

Where before there had been nothing but black rocks jutting through the ground, a rising tower of amber had sprung up, and at the top stood Quirin, half encased, reaching up to him, just a few feet away. “Help me, Varian!” His dad cried out, and the amber crackled as it rose to encase his chest.

“Dad!” Varian cried, sticking an arm through the bars of the cage and trying to reach him. He was close. But not close enough. “Dad, I’m trying! Hold on!”

“Son, I need you!” Quirin begged, and Varian’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m trying, dad!” He choked out, hand waving uselessly below him. “I can’t- I cant get to you! I’m sorry!” The amber made another horrible crackling sound as it rose up to Quirin’s neck.

It wasn’t real. Varian knew it wasn’t real. He knew what the red rocks did. But it didn’t change what he saw. What he heard. It didn’t change the fact that once again, his dad was being frozen alive in front of him, and once again, he couldn’t do anything about it. Helpless. 

“Varian,” his father repeated, voice strained as he craned his head up. “I thought you could make me proud-“ the amber slowly crept over his mouth, and tears began to spill down Varian’s cheeks. 

“I’m sorry, dad, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he sobbed, collapsing slightly. “I tried, I promise, I tried, it’s not my fault, I’m sorry!” 

The red rock’s glow began to creep up towards Varian, seeping into his skin. It froze his legs in place where he kneeled in the cage, locking them down against the floor. 

“No, no, no,” Varian mumbled, putting his head in one hand, the other still outstretched to the rocks, as he watched the amber fully encase his father. “No, this isn’t real, no, no, no. Come on, Varian. Come on, please.” 

The red glow halted, but didn’t recede. Tears dripped down from Varian’s face onto the cage floor below, some falling through gaps in the rock bottom and plummeting towards the ground. 

“Varian, Varian,” a smooth voice chided, and Varian shuddered, drawing his hand back reluctantly. “Always the crybaby. You deserve this, you know.”

“Andrew,” Varian said quietly, not looking behind him. He didn’t need to to recognize that voice. “You’re not real. Please go away.”

“Oh, I’m real enough,” Andrew said, and Varian felt his hand on his shoulder. He jerked away, shaking, and looked back at the man with fearful eyes, still wet with tears. Andrew smiled. “Real enough to make you pay for what you’ve done. You’re a traitor. Not just to my country, but to your own, as well.”

He tweaked Varian’s nose, the way one might with a small child. “The people all hate you,” he hummed, and Varian winced, shaking his head. “That’s not- not true,” he protested, and Andrew laughed. 

“N-n-not true, huh?” he mocked, spreading his arms out. “Just listen.”

Sure enough, Varian could hear screams and shouting coming from below. He didn’t dare to look. “They’re all mad at you,” Andrew said sweetly. “You really thought they’d ever forgive you? You betrayed them, Varian. And you know what?” 

Andrew unsheathed a small dagger from his belt. “You betrayed me.” 

“N-no, wait, no,” Varian pleaded, eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to- I had to- you-“

“Shh,” Andrew cooed, and the red began once again to creep up through Varian again, freezing his torso in place even as he tried to lean away. “You always did talk too much, boy. Quiet down and I’ll only make this hurt a little.”

Andrew raised the dagger over his head, and Varian flinched, preparing for impact.

It didn’t come.

The red consumed him completely. Varian was frozen in place- a statue of a small, crying boy, flinching away from something that wasn’t there, frozen in terror. The cage around him hummed with energy, and Varian glowed red. 

(Later, when Eugene found him and held him in his arms until the fear spell wore off, Varian would shiver and shake and cling to his chest like he’d never before.)


End file.
